The effects of changes in the order of verbal labels and numerical values on children's scores on attitude and rating scales

Research with adults has shown that variations in verbal labels and numerical scale values on rating scales can affect the responses given. However, few studies have been conducted with children. The study aimed to examine potential differences in children’s responses to Likert-type rating scales according to their anchor points and scale direction, and to see whether or not such differences were stable over time. 130 British children, aged 9 to 11, completed six sets of Likert-type rating scales, presented in four different ways varying the position of positive labels and numerical values. The results showed, both initially and 8-12 weeks later, that presenting a positive label or a high score on the left of a scale led to significantly higher mean scores than did the other variations. These findings indicate that different arrangements of rating scales can produce different results which has clear implications for the administration of scales with children

Interpersonal and affective dimensions of psychopathic traits in adolescents : development and validation of a self-report instrument

We report the development and psychometric evaluations of a self-report instrument designed to screen for psychopathic traits among mainstream community adolescents. Tests of item functioning were initially conducted with 26 adolescents. In a second study the new instrument was administered to 150 high school adolescents, 73 of who had school records of suspension for antisocial behavior. Exploratory factor analysis yielded a 4-factor structure (Impulsivity α = .73, Self-Centredness α = .70, Callous-Unemotional α = .69, and Manipulativeness α = .83). In a third study involving 328 high school adolescents, 130 with records of suspension for antisocial behaviour, competing measurement models were evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis. The superiority of a first-order model represented by four correlated factors that was invariant across gender and age was confirmed. The findings provide researchers and clinicians with a psychometrically strong, self-report instrument and a greater understanding of psychopathic traits in mainstream adolescents

Callous-unemotional traits only versus the multidimensional psychopathy construct as predictors of various antisocial outcomes during early adolescence

New methods for child psychiatric diagnosis and treatment outcome evaluatio

Psychopathic Traits of Dutch Adolescents in Residential Care: Identifying Subgroups

The present study examined whether a sample of 214 (52.8% male, M age = 15.76, SD = 1.29) institutionalized adolescents could be classified into subgroups based on psychopathic traits. Confirmatory Factor Analyses revealed a relationship between the subscales of the Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory (YPI) and the three latent constructs of the original model on which it is based. Latent Class Analyses showed that adolescents showing psychopathic traits could be classified into three subgroups. The first group showed low scores on the grandiose/manipulative dimension, the callous/unemotional dimension, and the impulsive/irresponsible dimension (normal group). The second group scored moderate on the grandiose/manipulative dimension and the callous/unemotional dimension and high on the impulsive/irresponsible dimension (impulsive, non-psychopathic-like group). The third group scored high on all three dimensions (psychopathy-like group). The findings revealed that the impulsive, non-psychopathic like group scored significantly higher on internalizing problem behavior compared to the normal group, while the psychopathy-like and the impulsive, non-psychopathic-like group both scored higher on externalizing problem behavior compared to the normal group. Based on a self-report delinquency measure, it appeared that the psychopathy-like group had the highest delinquency rates, except for vandalism. Both the impulsive and psychopathy-like group had the highest scores on the use of soft drugs

Self-reported psychopathic traits and socio-emotional functioning in 9-12 year old children from the community

The aim of this thesis was to enhance our understanding of the concept of psychopathic traits in preadolescent children. It did so by investigating a new assessment tool providing a previously unexplored perspective on psychopathic traits in preadolescent children: that of the child itself. This is important because children are in the unique position to report on feelings, attitudes and behaviors across a range of situations, including the home, the classroom and the playground. Furthermore, it sought to provide a deeper understanding of the nature of psychopathic traits and their relations to problematic socio-emotional functioning. It was concluded that psychopathic traits can be indeed measured reliably and meaningfully through self-report in 9 to 12 year olds. Furthermore, children with high levels of psychopathic traits were shown to suffer from impaired social functioning emotionally, motivationally, and interpersonally. These problems may be important targets for future interventions for this group. Finally, it was demonstrated that that children with psychopathic traits are prone to act aggressively, but also that this aggression is dynamic and is dependent upon circumstances. Their aggression can be attenuated by a salient display of others__ distress. These results suggest that empathy based treatment techniques may reduce aggression in children with psychopathic traits.UBL - phd migration 201

Self-Reported Psychopathic Traits in Children: Their Stability and Concurrent and Prospective Association with Conduct Problems and Aggression

The current study investigated the 18-month stability of self-reported psychopathic traits measured through the Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory–Child Version (YPI-CV) and their concurrent and prospective associations with conduct problems and aggression in a sample of 9–12year olds (n = 159, 52% boys) from the community. Self-reported psychopathy scores were moderately to highly stable and traits were positively related to conduct problems both concurrently and at follow-up, the latter even after controlling for initial levels of conduct problems. Higher self-reported psychopathic traits were also related to higher reactive, but particularly proactive aggression at follow-up. Finally, children with persistently high levels of psychopathic traits exhibited higher levels of conduct problems and proactive aggression at follow-up than those with unstable or stable low psychopathic traits.New methods for child psychiatric diagnosis and treatment outcome evaluatio

CALLOUS-UNEMOTIONAL TRAITS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH DEFICITS IN RECOGNIZING COMPLEX EMOTIONS IN PREADOLESCENT CHILDREN

New methods for child psychiatric diagnosis and treatment outcome evaluatio

Development and tests of short versions of the Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory and the Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory-Child Version

The adolescent Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) and its child version (YPI-CV) are sound but lengthy instruments for measuring psychopathic traits in youths. The current study develops psychometrically strong short versions of these instruments. Samples used for item reduction were community samples of adolescents (n = 2105, age 16-19, 49% boys) and children (n = 360, age 9-12, 52% boys). Stepwise parallel reduction using principal components analyses and content-related arguments resulted in two highly similar short instruments of 18 items each. In both versions, near identical and theoretically comprehensible three factor structures were demonstrated, which were crossvalidated in independent samples (CFI = .97 and .97; RMSEA = .044 and .038, respectively). Results were similar for boys and girls. The short instruments were reliable (Cronbach's αs of .85 and .83) and covered all core characteristics of the psychopathic personality construct. The short versions showed a high convergence with the original long instruments (r = .95 and .93, respectively) and similar correlations to external criterion measures of conduct problems. Therefore, the abbreviated versions are practical and valid alternatives for the original YPIs when administration time is limited. © 2010 Hogrefe & Huber Publishers